


lemon boy

by reylofics



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Friendship/Love, M/M, Quote: "When are we gonna do something about this unspoken thing between us?" "What unspoken thing?"
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-07-26 03:55:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20037508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reylofics/pseuds/reylofics
Summary: we finally did it, guys, gals and non-binary pals!!! tyrus is canon and, most importantly, ENDGAME! just a little canon and not so canon fluff :’)





	lemon boy

**Author's Note:**

> not to let my bisexuality shine through but i HIGHLY recommend listening to the lemon boy album by cavetown when you’re reading a tyrus fic or anything tyrus related. if you were looking for a deeper meaning behind the title of the story, you won’t find one! i just want to promote the lemon boy album because it IS tyrus.

When he first saw TJ Kippen in person, it was not a pleasant encounter. In fact, Cyrus wasn’t even completely sure that TJ recognized him, much less knew his name. He probably hadn’t known that Cyrus Goodman had attended the same school as him up until that brief encounter. Or, at least, that’s what Cyrus had always thought.

The whole situation was pretty odd, when he looks back on it. All he had wanted was one chocolate chip muffin. Eating chocolate chip muffins happened to be his favorite pastime delight to excitedly indulge in, whether it was at home or at school. Seemingly enough, the cafeteria’s self appointed Chocolate Chip Muffin Wednesdays at Jefferson Middle School were Cyrus’s favorite day of the week. Each Wednesday, he patiently waited in line for his opportunity to snatch up a well baked muffin with gooey chocolate chips scattered all along the inside. His best friends, Buffy Driscoll and Andi Mack never really seemed to understand nor share the excitement that he so enthusiastically held towards the muffins in question.

To Cyrus, that was music to his ears. More chocolate chip muffins for him! Unfortunately for him, TJ Kippen seemed to share the exact same excitement about the muffins. He often killed two birds with one stone by coercing his gang of friends to take more muffins than they needed, therefore leaving the muffin trays empty and the rest of Jefferson Middle School muffin-less. 

Fortunately, Cyrus had managed to narrowly sneak by these instances of TJ’s wrath, always managing to grab a muffin before TJ and his gang had come. On one day in particular, though, the shorter boy had been held back by his P.E. teacher to discuss his lack of willful participation in the class. It had seemed stupid to Cyrus but as his teacher had brought up, it would seem even more “stupid” to his parents if he happened to bring a D+ grade back home to his parents. Truthfully speaking, Cyrus didn’t really think his parents would give him any real punishment for his grades, even if one of them was a D+.

Nonetheless, Cyrus patiently sat through his teacher’s spiel, constantly watching the clock. Five long, drawn out minutes passed and Cyrus finally had been unable to take it any longer.

“Yup, I got it, I’ll make sure to participate more. I’ll run at home, do sit-ups, push-ups, whatever you want me to do! Maybe not the push-ups part. Ok, thanks!” Cyrus had blurted out, grabbing his things to rush towards the chocolate chip muffin line in the cafeteria.

Cyrus knew that he was too late as soon as he had seen the first tuft of dirty blonde hair at the head of the line. He heard the sneering of his accomplices snatching up the muffins as the rest of the school groaned in unison. It puzzled Cyrus how everyone just managed to go along with TJ’s schemes, even the cafeteria ladies. Then again, it was probably easier to let TJ do whatever he wanted without any backlash. The older kids had dealt with the same mean behavior last year when TJ’s sister, Amber, had attended the school. It seemed that cruel behavior ran in the family.

Still, Cyrus couldn’t help but to let a little squeak out in protest of the action. 

“Hey!” he squealed as TJ and his friends walked in his direction.

A muffin tumbled downwards, landing directly in front of Cyrus. Oddly enough, the movement was enough for TJ to snap his head up and meet the other boy’s eyes. Something else flickered in his eyes but it was quickly replaced by the same evil look that Cyrus constantly saw TJ giving to other people in the halls for no reason at all other than to intimidate them. He gave a mean smile to the younger boy and stepped forward. 

Cyrus stepped back, afraid that he was about to experience his first assault in the middle of the cafeteria. TJ then frowned, as if he was actually concerned for the other boy’s apparent fear, and instead took his foot out to squash the poor muffin that sat calmly on the linoleum floor. No words were exchanged and with that, TJ turned his eyes away from Cyrus and kept walking. Cyrus would later admit that this occurrence hadn’t brought any real significance into his life until a week later, when almost the exact opposite had happened. 

Cyrus had noticed that one of his friends, Buffy, had started talking to TJ but he hadn’t mentioned it. If nothing else, he was only patiently waiting for her to bring it up. After all, if it was anything important, he knew it wouldn’t be long before he crossed paths with Buffy’s newfound acquaintance again. Still, maybe it was just some athletic stuff between the two basketball players that didn’t concern Cyrus at all. Either way, Cyrus wasn’t one to pry into someone else’s business. Well, sometimes he was but, in this particular situation, he chose not to be that person.

Even when Buffy and TJ came walking into the cafeteria a week later, clearly bickering and pointing fingers at the Jewish boy that was eagerly standing by the chocolate chip muffin line, Cyrus didn’t say a word. He heard some harsh whispers coming from behind him but decided not to let his curiosity get the best of him. Instead, he continued to woefully look at the muffins in despair, not wanting a repeat of last week’s incident that had resulted in zero muffins for Cyrus Goodman for the first time in forever.

In fact, it was the first time in months that Cyrus had gone without the school’s weekly chocolate chip muffin. Truth be told, Cyrus already felt like he was going through chocolate chip muffin withdrawals. And although Buffy and Andi didn’t understand his ongoing passion for the muffins, they definitely noticed a change in his behavior.

“Well, it’s not like he can just walk up and take a muffin like you!” Cyrus heard Buffy exclaim from behind him.

That was the last straw. With an exasperated sigh, Cyrus swiveled around and gave Buffy a pointed look. She looked almost embarrassed, a rare occurrence for Buffy Driscoll. Still, she refused to give any other indication of even the slightest apology. To Cyrus’s surprise, though, TJ spoke up.

“Hey, don’t tell him what he can’t do.”

TJ wasn’t looking at Cyrus when he said this. He was looking straight in Buffy’s eyes, unafraid to meet her constantly challenging eyes. Later, too, Cyrus would recall that the only other person he had seen give Buffy that look (in a slightly different way) was Marty from the Party.

Buffy, of course, only huffed in response and crossed her arms. She looked at Cyrus, narrowing her eyes at him as if he had been the one to challenge her. Cyrus held his hands up to surrender, ready to apologize but TJ was quick to move forward and shove him toward the muffin line.

Already, Cyrus began to hear the collective groans of the student body echoing throughout the cafeteria. If there was anything everyone could collectively agree to hate on Chocolate Chip Muffin Wednesdays, it was line cutters. Even the sixth graders at the school began to feel especially brave on these days, simultaneously forming with the rest of the student population to harass any one who dared trying to cut the line on Wednesdays. Except for TJ.

But Cyrus wasn’t TJ. Some students merely gave him a disgusted glare while some scoffed in the way Buffy had earlier. Others, on the other hand, began to yell at him. One of the bigger eighth graders, one whose height seemed to surpass even the tallest teacher, towered over Cyrus menacingly and stared him down.

“Back of the line,” was all he said in a low growl.

Under a normal situation, Cyrus would have been quick to comply. He had already been getting ready to back down, giving a nervous smile to the taller eighth grader in return. Then TJ stepped in, yet again.

“He’s with me,” TJ declared loudly enough for the entire line to hear.

Again, the entire line groaned collectively, though it was notably much quieter than before. TJ warmly smiled at Cyrus, a direct contrast to the week before. He nodded his head forward at the last standing muffin on the cafeteria tray at the front of the line. There was some anxiousness floating around in Cyrus’s stomach but he smiled back at TJ and ran forward.

Cyrus was extremely giddy, plucking the muffin delicately from the tray like it was a petal on a rare flower. When he came back, ignoring the jealous stares of his classmates, Cyrus held his trophy proudly in his hand. TJ figured that the muffin would be Cyrus’s biggest trophy of the week and the thought was enough to make him smile. Smiling was something that almost never happened to TJ, especially at school. But there was just something about him.

Good things always came to an end, though. Cyrus smiled at the taller boy, thanking him in broken speech due to the fact that his mouth was full of his newfound treat. He waved goodbye and ran off to find Andi, pointing at his muffin excitedly as he passed by a shocked Buffy. If TJ could have, he would’ve captured the moment with a Polaroid camera and kept the memory framed in his room.

Luckily, it wasn’t the end of their encounters together. The next week, they happened to meet again. This time, however, it was outside of school premises. 

It was a bit childish for TJ’s tastes and he wasn’t sure how he had ended up there but, somehow, he had ended up at the park. At the park, of all places. One would think that TJ’s favorite place to find relief might be elsewhere. Maybe even The Spoon, where his sister worked. Then again, TJ was an unusual person that no one had quite figured out yet. Least of all, Cyrus.

To both of their surprise, Cyrus and TJ managed to be at the park at the same time. TJ had just gotten out of a frustrating “tutor” session with Buffy while Cyrus, true to his own character, had headed to the park to have some fun. TJ was still reeling from the effects of the numbers swirling around in his head but the sight of seeing the younger boy laughing cheerily as he went up and down on the swing set was enough to make TJ smile again. It was becoming a bad habit of his—TJ couldn’t help but to crack a smile whenever he saw Cyrus around now.

“Hey, Chocolate Chip Muffin,” started TJ awkwardly.

Cyrus abruptly came to a stop. He skidded his feet lightly on the ground below and gripped the sides of the swing tightly when he came down from his immediate high. Almost immediately, he turned to face the voice greeting him and met it with a soft smile. It was almost as if their first embarrassing encounter had never happened, much to TJ’s delight.

“Scary Basketball Guy!” joked Cyrus with glee. He clasped a hand over his mouth. “Sorry.”

The taller boy only laughed and walked next to Cyrus. He plopped down beside him and gave him a goofy grin that seemed to come out of nowhere.

“I’m not so scary, I’m TJ,” protested the older boy, putting a hand to his chest in mock dismay.

“Right.” Cyrus rolled his eyes, referring to the first part of TJ’s introduction. “You killed a muffin two weeks ago.”

There was a hint of playfulness to his tone, clearly indicating that no malice was no intended. Still, TJ felt a pang in his heart. He hadn’t expected the other boy to remember.

Cyrus noticed the solemn look on TJ’s face and changed the subject right away.

“So,” he cleared his throat, “whatcha doin’ here?”

TJ gladly accepted the invitation to switch to a new topic, deciding to evade the specifics of his situation and just give Cyrus a general overview. He scratched at his head and tried to ignore the way that Cyrus’s nose scrunched up in concern for the other boy made him feel.

“Oh, y’know. I was just doing some stuff and got tired of it.”

So much for a general overview. TJ had told Cyrus next to nothing. Cyrus, however, took in the information with great consideration, as always. After a few moments of careful deliberation, Cyrus came to an accurate conclusion.

“Stress?” he finally piped up, eager to receive either a nod of denial or approval.

TJ laughed. “You could say that.”

Cyrus let go of the swing for a second to turn his hands into fists, pumping them wildly up in the air with authentic enthusiasm. When he finished his mini congratulatory session for himself, Cyrus turned back to TJ.

“I get that. I have some P.E. homework that’s causing me some MAJOR stress.” 

TJ didn’t miss the way Cyrus drew out the end of the word ‘major’ and said the word ‘P.E.’ like it was a terminal disease. He smiled fondly, not saying anything. After all, his area of concern wasn’t P.E., it was math. P.E. was the least of his worries.

Thankfully, Cyrus was more than happy to continue talking and carry on the lighthearted conversation.

“You know, when I get stressed, I like to swing. I know it sounds stupid, right? Like we’re not kids anymore. We’re like mini adults or whatever. But sometimes going back to the time I was a kid takes the stress away. Does that make sense? I hope it does. Geez, am I boring you? I’m Cyrus, by the way.”

TJ laughed, again. He was doing a lot of that lately.

“Cyrus, I know. Buffy told me your name.”

For some reason, Cyrus felt the pink tint in his cheeks starting to spread like a wildflower. It made him feel special and honored that of all people, TJ Kippen knew his name. And of all people, TJ Kippen was talking to him. Now, TJ Kippen was swinging with him.

“Hey, this is pretty cool!” roared TJ as he flew through the wind.

“I know!” yelled Cyrus back.

For a split second, the boys met each other’s gazes in the air, matching each other’s stares with a feeling that neither one of them could quite match. Though, just as suddenly as the moment had come, it was gone. Immediately, Cyrus let out a bright laugh that cut the impending tension in the air. TJ joined him, slowing down to a stop so that he could hop off.

“Leaving so soon?” said Cyrus, not really meaning for it to come out as a desperate attempt to let TJ know that he enjoyed his presence. 

TJ felt tempted to ruffle Cyrus’s hair for some reason but ignored the temptation to jokingly shake his head instead at the other boy.

“No, I wanted to show you something else. Underdog.”

“Underdog?” replied Cyrus quizzically. 

TJ only nodded and stepped behind Cyrus. When Cyrus came hurling back on his swing, TJ released his arms forward to create the “Underdog effect”. Really, all he was doing was pushing the younger boy on the swing but Cyrus couldn’t stand to correct him and TJ couldn’t stand to take his hands off of Cyrus for the brief moment that he was allowed to touch the small curve at the bottom of his back every time that he came sailing straight into the palm of his hands.

Cyrus had to admit that, even if TJ was just pushing him as his mother had done when he was little, somehow this felt better than that fond childhood experience. It felt like euphoria, a state of mind that Cyrus never seemed to question when he was in it. He had learned to enjoy himself when he was like this instead of questioning it like he questioned everything else.

Cyrus wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that at the swings, TJ pushing him up into the air from behind and Cyrus shrieking with laughter every time that he went flying up into the unknown. Though, he vaguely remembered that, at some point, they had grudgingly began to part their ways and head home for dinner. Cyrus had gently reminded TJ that he knew where to find him. Things were different now.

“Hey, Not-So-Scary Basketball Guy,” called out Cyrus before TJ was completely out of his line of sight.

TJ grinned briefly before composing himself and nonchalantly turning around to face Cyrus.

“Yes, Underdog?” replied TJ sweetly, batting his eyelashes rather innocently. And, Cyrus would add later on, in a rather dramatic fashion. Even TJ could admit that he was laying it on a bit too thick for the other boy’s benefit. 

“I just, um,” Cyrus began shyly.

TJ raised his eyebrows in anticipation. Cyrus sighed.

“Will you come to my bar mitzvah? I know we haven’t known each other for that long but I just feel some sort of weird friendship connection with you and it would be stupid of me to let that go so—“

“Yes? Yes. Yes! Duh, Underdog.”

Cyrus let out the huge breath of relief that he hadn’t even been aware of, the breath of relief that had been silently sitting at the pit of his stomach like a rock while he waited for TJ’s response. Needless to say, he was happy at the response that he ended up getting.

“I’ll send you more details later. Can I have your number?”

It seemed rather cliché, the way Cyrus had just boldly asked for the other boy’s number and received it just as quickly as he had asked. But Cyrus, yet again, didn’t question it one bit. He was just happy that he had made the choice to ask for TJ’s number. TJ was, too. With the exchanging of numbers and Cyrus’s bar mitzvah, Cyrus and TJ became almost the equivalent of best friends in a few short months.

There were a few exceptions to this, such as the times Cyrus and TJ got into arguments that Buffy and Andi often described as “an old couple bickering”, a description no one had ever given Cyrus before when he fought with his other friends. Plus, there were the times that they would hold hands in the privacy of their homes, in a way that made Cyrus feel differently than when he held Andi’s hand. Along with this, there were several other notable exceptions to their friendship that went beyond the typical boundaries that Cyrus shared with Buffy with Andi.

Andi and Buffy weren’t the only ones who noticed the differences in their friendship. During the duration of their long lasting friendship, it became a frequent habit of Cyrus to invite TJ over to his house. Sometimes, the opposite invitation would be extended over to TJ’s house but this was only done when he was sure that Amber wouldn’t tease them. Still, when the duo happened to hang out at Cyrus’s house, his parents often commented on their friendship.

Most times, they made sly comments that only Cyrus seemed to catch, turning the tips of his ears a bright pink whenever it happened. Though, as TJ kept coming over for more and more hangouts that turned into sleepovers, Cyrus’s parents started becoming more obvious with their statements around the two. As time went on, the comments slowly began to be more and more appreciated by Cyrus and, soon, TJ as he caught on.

During one day in particular, TJ cleared his throat loudly when Cyrus’s parents left the room after making an especially obvious comment about their relationship.

“Thelonious Jagger, are you okay?” asked Cyrus with faux sincerity in his eyes.

If he hadn’t known him at all, TJ would’ve surely mistaken the faux sincerity for authentic caring. Then again, Cyrus only used his full name when he wanted to tease TJ, though never unkindly. So, TJ merely rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to speak.

“Cyrus, let me talk! What would you think—“

“If what?” Cyrus interrupted excitedly.

TJ laughed. Interrupting him mid-sentence was something he and Cyrus worked on a lot nowadays, often to no avail.

“Muffin, you gotta let me finish,” grinned TJ down at the younger boy. 

Cyrus nodded enthusiastically. TJ continued on, his nervousness shining through his pearly white smile.

“What if we were actually what your parents think we secretly are?” 

It seemed that TJ was going to have to spell it out for Cyrus, based on the way his brows furrowed up in confusion at TJ’s posed question.

“A couple,” sighed TJ.

The lightbulb clicked.

“Oh!” said Cyrus. “But I thought we already were, Teej?”

TJ felt a warm blush already creeping up into his cheeks at the mere suggestion. He wasn’t sure he could heat up any more until Cyrus gave him another dazzling smile and planted a quick peck on his cheek. His heart was beating at a hundred miles per minute, he was sure of it. He was also sure that his heart was bound to explode right out his chest when he leaned forward to grab the shorter boy’s hands.

“We are.”

Cyrus reeled back, shocked at the forward statement. He gulped nervously, his Adam’s Apple protruding from his throat in an accentuated way. Cyrus still gripped TJ’s hands tightly though, to TJ’s surprise. Neither one of them wanted to let go.

“We are?” asked Cyrus softly, pretending he hadn’t heard TJ the first time just to hear him repeat it for a second time.

“We are, Muffin.”

And just like that, Cyrus instantly relaxed into TJ’s touch, leaning forward to press his forehead into the taller boy’s shoulder while holding his hands. This. This was euphoria. Complete and utter euphoria. Cyrus wasn’t about to start questioning it now.

**Author's Note:**

> this was just something fun for me to write, i PROMISE that i wasn’t trying to create anything special (so i won’t be offended if you completely hated it because i wasn’t trying to go for writer of the year)


End file.
